Celestials
by E.Rebellion
Summary: After ending up on Bosco's most wanted list, Lucy returns home to her family of misfits and troublemakers. Of course, there's never a dull moment around Fairy Tail, so a nonstop adventure ensues! (NaLu, Gruvia, GaLe, Jerza, etc.)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello viewers, and welcome to the rewrite of my first story. By the time I get this up, I'll probably have 10 or so chapters finished (Maybe more, cuz I prob wont't post this until this fics anniversary, and its mid October right now). I may or may not post them all at once depending on your responses.**

 **Any questions will be answered in the next chapter or via PM.**

* * *

 **. Celestials .**

* * *

 _"You're a murderer."_

 _He hung his head, doing his best not to cry again. "I—"_

 _"You killed her! You're arrogance got her killed! She's dead because of you!" Her fists clenched and she was barely restraining herself from punching him._

 _MiraJane gave her a nasty glare. "Shut up. You know it wasn't his fault. You're just looking for someone to blame." The blond's rage moved on to her._

 _"Don't give me that bullshit." The words flew out of her mouth like fire. "You're just as guilty. You couldn't even save you're own sister. You couldn't even bring back her fucking body. You're pathetic."_

 _Elfman gasped. "That's not true!" He half regretted the statement the second her scornful look turned on him and she began marching towards him._

 _"Don't you dare!" She rose her fist and she punched him square in the jaw. Elfman hit the ground hard. Nobody moved. Not even the fierce Titania could comprehend what was going on. "Don't you dare say it isn't true." She was on top of him now, punching him over and over, tears streaming down her face._

 _"You killed her. You're the worst of us all. You're arrogance got her killed. It's your fault." Her punches were even stronger than her words. MiraJane feebly tried to pull her off, but a punch to the stomach had her keeling over on her knees and coughing, tying to keep her broken arm of the ground._

 _It took a minute and a half for someone to come to their senses, and it took both Titania and Salamander to pull her off. She continued to struggle, bloody hands trying to reach at the bloody, unconscious body on the ground._

* * *

 _"You're overreacting." Erza said watching her move around the room, stuffing new things into her bag._

 _"I don't care. The farther away from from that murderer the better." Her response was automatic, as if she didn't even have to think about it. The redhead was quiet for a short while, trying to come up with a good response._

 _"You can't be angry forever." She tried, following it up with another attempt at reason, "We are all killers in away."_

 _She didn't pause in her strides across the large room. "Of course I can't. I'll get over this eventually, we all will. And while we're all killers, none of us have ever killed one of our own."_

 _Erza took a deep breath. "Natsu won't be happy about this." Erza rubbed her temples, realizing how serious her friend was being. It had only been two days, and the bags under her eyes were already getting very pronounced. "I won't be happy about this."_

 _The blonde stuffed an extra pair of hiking boots in her last bag before zipping up all three. She then narrowed her gaze to her friend, placing her bandaged hands on her hips. "Natsu hasn't even spoken to me in the past two days. I haven't seen him at all." She looked about ready to cry then and there, but she held her tears back. "And you look like hell already. It'd be better if I weren't here crying my eyes out and stressing you out even more."_

 _Erza gave her a hard stare, knowing exactly what was being implied. She didn't want to be a burden, she didn't want anyone to see her cry. The redhead wanted to pull at her hair; to yell and scream like a child until she finally drilled it through this stubborn girls head that_ _ **she was not a burden**_ _._

 _"Fine." Erza relented, "But you won't have any money. How will you travel? What will you do while you're away?"_

 _She smiled, pulling a folded up piece of paper out of her pocket. She straightened it out, showing a large sum of money at the bottom and a large red 'S' stamped in the top right corner. "I'm an S-Class mage now. This mission is the easiest one, a track and kill. When I'm done I can travel Earthland before coming home. It's a foolproof plan, Erza."_

 _"What if you get hurt?"_

 _"I already am."_

 _Erza had nothing more to say._

* * *

"What?" Lucy blinked rather owlishly, struggling to process what the ticket salesman had just told her.

"I said," he spoke slowly, "The boats to Fiore don't run at night. It's country policy. Although I'm sure you could commission a private boatman, or take a train." He glanced at the three snarling men tied up in chains next to her, clearly criminals. "Though the trains won't allow criminals who have yet to be imprisoned by the government to ride."

One of the men sneered. "We'll kill you before you ever get us back to Fiore."

The blond glanced back at him, sending him a scalding glare. " _Shut up._ " The tone of her voice was enough to make him pee his pants, but he definitely wasn't going to show it.

She returned her gaze to the ticket salesmen, giving him a glowing smile. "Thanks for the help, I guess." He blushed.

She turned on her heals, dragging the criminals behind her. What few people still there at one in the morning scurried away, making a clear path for her. Even though they probably didn't mean to, Lucy nodded her appreciation anyway.

They made their way to the nearby dock, the men dragging their feet. "Come on, keep up. I don't wanna be here any longer than I have to. And if you're the reason I can't get back by morning, you'll regret it."

From then on they were practically speed walking down the boardwalk, the blond scanning the area for any fisherman who lingered, trying to get a good catch.

Of in the distance, she could spot a large yacht, it's bright lights standing out against the dark backdrop of the night sky. Settling to ask them for a ride, Lucy wandered over to where she knew they would be docking.

Three yawns and an hour later, Lucy could finally see who was aboard the yacht. Needless to say, she wasn't happy about it.

Tied to the bow of the ship was a familiar head of pink hair, the face under it seeming to be a permanent shade of puke green. He looked like he wanted to die, vomit leaking out of his mouth every once and a while. Just looking at him made her want to cringe.

"How on Earthland..." she muttered to herself, flabbergasted. Glancing at the fugitives, she nodded at the fact that they were out cold. Just in case, she summoned a spirit to watch over them.

Pulling out a key and diving into the water, Lucy mumbled the incantation as she broke surface. "Open, gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius,"

A mermaid with light blue hair and dark blue eyes appeared in a flash of ethereal white light. She scoffed, shifting her intricately decorated urn to one hip so she could flip her hair over her her pale skinned shoulder. "You're lucky it's barely Tuesday, brat." She said snidely.

"You're always so mean. I sometimes wonder how you even got a boyfriend."

Aquarius smirked, sticking her nose in the air. "Pah! At least I have one. You're doomed to wander Earthland forever alone."

Pretending to be dejected, Lucy slumped nearly drowning because she forgot she was in the water. With an eye roll, Aquarius reluctantly pulled the girl out of the water by the back of her shirt collar.

"Enough chit-chat, what do you want me to do? I have a date in a few hours..." She bit out, mumbling the last part.

Lucy coughed, spitting out some water. "I just want you to watch those guys. And help me if I need it." She gestured to he knocked out criminals. The buxom mermaid hardly spared them a glance.

"Whatever." The spirit grumbled, gently setting her key holder in the water. Lucy started to swim to the ship but thought better of it. "Aquarius?"

"I know, I know," She sighed, taking her urn into both hands. She lifted the urn towards the sky, and water under the yacht shot into the air, bringing the pristine white boat with it.

"Thanks!" Lucy chimed, pulling out another key from her pouch. "Open, gate of the Hunter, Orion!"

Mid-stroke, she was lifted from the water and shot into the air. Arm's had looped themselves around her torso, clenching onto her tightly. An explosion was heard, and Lucy's eyes wandered up to look at the debris falling from the yacht. Amongst the falling pieces of metal she could spot several unconscious women descending toward the water.

She paid them no mind. Aquarius would make sure they'd all survive. Orion dodged falling girls left and right, all of them wearing fancy dresses and expensive jewelry. In the back of her mind, the blond wondered exactly what her destructive friend had gotten himself into.

The atmosphere continued to get thinner, until finally Orion's gigantic wings had lifted them to the top of the water tower and brought them to the yacht. Orion set her gently on what remained of the boats top deck before moving to stand beside her.

Lucy could finally get a look of the older girls sleek black hair and tan skin. Her wings were massive, brushing the floor and seeming to be black voids with no texture. Her hair, which was short in the back but slightly longer in the front, hardly even reached past her chin.

Orion's glowing amber eyes, that were hardly visible through her long, choppy bangs, honed in on the form of her key holder. "Would you like me to stay and help?" Her voice was soft and sweet as always.

Lucy squinted, taking in shallow breaths. The air was thin. She wouldn't last must longer. "Yeah," her voice was more breathless than she expected, but she continued on, "We have to get this done as fast as possible."

"Yes M—"

"Lucy!" A high pitched cry interrupted the brunettes response, and she narrowly avoided getting smacked in the face by a flying cat. She moved to the left, raising her hand to catch him by the tail before he completely passed her by.

"Happy!" Lucy exclaimed, surprised at his presence, though she really shouldn't have been. Happy followed Natsu Dragneel everywhere he went, whether it was on a simple mission or to the bathroom.

"What did you two do now?" She questioned, dragging the anthropomorphic cat behind her as they delved deeper into the boat.

Her words went in one ear and out the other, as the blue feline was to bust poking at Orions wings. "Please stop," Orion repeated for the third time.

"Well," Happy drawled, shimmying his tail out of her grip and plopping himself on her shoulder. "Natsu got motion sick and couldn't get of the ship."

"And where were you?"

"Sunbathing on the roof."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I should've known. But why were you on the boat in the first place?"

Happy stared at her blankly. "I forgot."

"Mistress," Orion interjected, "We have two options up ahead. Will we be turning left towards the females or right towards the males?"

"Happy and I will go left and find Natsu. I want you to go right and see if there are anymore unconscious women up here and get them back down."

"Yes Mistress."

* * *

 _ **Finished on October 16th, 2016.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**. Celestials .**

* * *

Her night vision was very helpful in scanning the large room on the huge yacht. Orion hummed. She had, at best, four minutes and twenty-three seconds before anyone aboard started passing out from the thinness of the air. Plenty of time.

Fifty women lay sprawled about over the floors of five large cells, ten women in each cell. Just like the girls that had fallen past her on the way up, they all wore fine dresses, expensive jewelry, and strong perfumes. The women varied in ages of sixteen to twenty-five.

Orion examined the cells. They were made of magic cancelling metal, and the locks consisted of both fingerprint and retina scanning. Either way, she certainly wasn't getting these girls out of the cages with her ability set.

Nodding to herself on her final decision, Orion stretched out one of her wings so that it was directly in front of her. Reaching into the void, the brunette pulled out a flamethrower. She briefly remembered when the other spirits had told her it was a useless item to keep. She held back a triumphant snort and focused on her task.

Pointing the fiery weapon at the pristine wood clad ceiling, as close to the back wall as possible, and she pulled the trigger. The polished wood charred and burned until it was reduced to nothing but ashes. She brushed some out of her hair before placing the flamethrower back where she'd retrieved it from.

Three Minutes and nine seconds before people started dropping. Well, technically, Orion mused to herself with a smirk, people were about to start dropping right now. The hunter dragged the cages, which had previously been pushed against the walls of the room, against the back wall under the skylight she had created.

One by one, she hefted the cages up and threw them out, where they proceeded to plummet into the water. She smirked when the last one dropped and she could hear Aquarius, mumbling aggravated curses at the fact she had to manually pull the cages out of the water before they drowned.

"Good," she said to herself, crossing her arms, "You can finally be of actual use to the Mistress."

* * *

Happy was seriously trying to talk her ear off. The past thirty seconds had felt impossibly long because of his nonstop droning, trying to fill her in on all the nitty-gritty details she'd missed in her absence.

"Okay." Lucy grit out, suddenly reminded of all the times she'd wanted to wrap her hands around the cat's neck. "I get it. You ate a bunch of rare fish. I'm proud of you." She said sarcastically, guiding them into the only lit room on the hall.

Nearly half a second after walking through the doorway, she wanted to roll her eyes and throw up at the same time. Seven bodies burnt to a crisp were spread throughout the room, one of them about to fall out of the giant gaping hole that took up the the entirety of the back wall and part of the ceiling.

Next, her eyes wandered over to the eighth body in the room. A man with a badly burned torso and wild blue hair was feebly crawling towards the door, eyes lit with fear and pain. "Please," he rasped, "Help me! Get me away from that demon! He tried to kill me!"

"Don't listen to this guy Lucy," Happy warned her, "He hurt all his friends trying to get to Natsu. And he was kidnapping all those girls. I helped some of them off, the ones that weren't in cages, just now because I'm such a saint..."

The blonde stared down at the man. Her gaze didn't exactly hold pity, but there wasn't any cruel intent, either. She contemplated telling him everything would be okay, but decided not to, because it wasn't going to be if he lived through the night. A hard kick to the side of his skull knocked him unconscious and sent him sprawling. "That was mean," Happy said in her ear.

"At least he's not in pain anymore." She said, feeling somewhat bad apropos being so brutal about it. But, she supposed, there really wasn't a nice way to knock someone out. Finally, she moved on to the one man at the center of all the chaos.

He was keeled over, groaning as he clutched his stomach. He was clearly suffering from his usual motion sickness. Lucy idly wondered how he was able to untie himself and cause such mass destruction in the short time he'd been airborne and not motion sick. She'd ask him later. He raised his head to reveal his green, puffed cheeks.

"Lucy, Happy," Puke dribbled down his chin as he opened his mouth. "Help..."

"I swear, always causing trouble," The blonde muttered to herself. "Happy, get him down to the ground. I can... _handle_ things here, I think."

"Aye, sir!" Happy chimed, grabbing Natsu by the back of his vest and zooming out of the hole in the wall.

Left alone with the dead bodies, Lucy started to notice how dizzy she was starting to feel. Moving quickly, she wrapped an arm under the torso of the only living man in the room before hustling her way toward the fastest exit—the aforementioned hole.

The feel of the mans burnt skin made her want to throw up, but she wasn't going to leave him there to die just because she was little squeamish. Reaching the edge, Lucy shoved the man out of the hole before proceeding to glance over.

"Oh Mavis," Lucy whispered, clenching her eyes shut. She knew her fear of heights would come back to bite her in the ass some day. "Orion!" She shouted poking her head back out just in time to see her mermaid spirit dragging the man through the water before throwing him haphazardly onto the dock. Aquarius narrowed her with a glare she could feel a mile away.

Orion appeared overhead, seeming to scan the seas before spotting her on the yacht. "Mistress!" she gasped, speedily soaring over to her. The brunette swept an arm under the blondes knees, placing the other behind her shoulders.

"Mistress Lucy, please be more careful. You could have fallen." Orion reprimanded lightly, gliding over to the dock. As they passed Aquarius Orion's wing swatted the shapely mermaid in the face.

The blue haired spirit gagged, sending her fellow spirit a glare. "What the hell is your problem, tramp?"

Orion set Lucy down on the dock. She turned and sent the obnoxious mermaid a blank stare. "Oops." She said rather unapologetically, "I was too busy being of use to Master to pay attention to sluts who only think of themselves."

"So I'm a slut, huh? You're one to talk, judging by your outfit." She snarled back, rage growing by the minute.

Orion looked down at her attire. She dressed simply. A backless one piece suit made out of spandex material clung to her wide hips and flat chest. The bottom stopped just under her derriere, and she wore neither socks nor shoes, leaving her feet to be covered in the ashes of the wood she'd burned earlier.

She compared her outfit to Aquarius', which only consisted of a sea blue bikini top, golden bangles on each arm along with a jeweled headpiece. The mermaids signature marble urn was propped up against her hip.

The brunette pursed her lips. Glancing at Lucy's outfit, which was only a tank top that covered up to her collarbone, combat boots, and a knee-length skirt. All of which were black. The brunette was clearly the worst dressed in the proverbial room. Vowing to change that, Orion turned fully to the blonde.

"Mistress, if it's alright, I'll be taking by leave now." Not waiting for a reply—because Lucy always said yes—she shimmered away, sending a glare towards Aquarius as she did.

The mermaid clenched her fists, screaming in anger. "That little flat chested hussy! I'll knock her lights out!" In her rage, she swung her urn in an arc. Like a second skin, the water tower she'd created was flung forward, crashing into the Bosco coastline.

Lucy looked on in horror. It didn't sweep her up along with it, for once, but it would certainly cause a lot of destruction. Flipping her hair and huffing, Aquarius faded away. She was too occupied in thinking of ways to make sure the gaping fisherman nearby didn't blab to the authorities to notice her spirit's departure.

A loud whistle rang in her ears. "Hey! You there!" Too late. Lucy panicked. The day hadn't even started, yet it had already gone to hell. There was no escape. She was doomed to spend the rest of her life in a Bosconian prison because her spirit couldn't control her temper.

"Lucy!" The happy voice of Happy shouted at her from above, and less than a second later there was a gigantic winged creature in front of her.

Not even blinking, she slung the criminals onto the creatures back before hopping on herself. "Lets get out of here." She rushed out, seeing that the night guard was continuously getting closer. Though she was reluctant to leave the women behind, she knew the authorities would get them back to Fiore safely.

"Aye, sir!

* * *

"Happy," Lucy came to realize a few hours later, "Where's Natsu?"

The cat, who was nibbling contently at a fish, looked at her. He smirked deviously and reached down to pat the griffin-like creature on the back. "Right here."

Lucy stared at him. "No, seriously. Where is he?" She watched as Happy turned his nose in the air.

"Wow, Lucy, I didn't think you had such little faith in me." He rubbed fake tears from his eyes, and the blond scoffed.

"That's—" she started, but stopped herself, "Nevermind. Next time I'll ask someone who knows." An internal applaud accompanied her well-thought quip. The cat promptly grabbed his fish, stood up, and positioned himself on the hybrid beasts head, away from her.

"I'm not speaking to you Lucy. Not after your betrayal."

She rubbed her temples. This cat never ceased to be such a pill. "Are we almost there, at least?" No response.

Happy looked around in confusion. "Woah. It's crazy how the only words I can understand right now are "I'm" and "sorry." In that order." He mumbled, just loud enough for her to hear.

"I'll give you a fish." Lucy said blatantly.

Happy's head whirled around so fast she was surprised he didn't get whiplash. " _Deal."_

At the same time, they both yawned. "Sorry, Lucy. I haven't slept in two hours." He rubbed his eyes with a still slightly damp paw.

The blond cringed. "Two hours? I haven't slept in two days Happy. I just wanna go home."

Happy could barely contain his laughter at the joke she knew he was about to make. "Oh, no wonder you have so many wrinkles."

That one hit a nerve. "You damned cat! I ought to wring your neck!" She growled, rising to her feet to grab at him. Wisely, he flew into the air out of her reach.

She hadn't realized that they were going so fast. She stared at Happy, who stayed in the air, mildly impressed that he could maintain such a speed. He wasn't looking at her, but at something in the distance.

"What are you looking at?" She mumbled, curling her fingers around his tail to reassure herself that he wouldn't suddenly lag behind.

He giggled, rolling his eyes. "You don't see it? You're going blind!" He started to laugh again, but a crushing grip on his tail stopped him. "It's Hargeon! Now stop, it that hurts!" He howled, nearly clawing to get out of her grip.

She let go and he cried out in relief. Lucy payed him no mind, instead looking ahead to look for what Happy had mentioned. If she squinted, she could see a speck in the distance. It grew by the second, and before she knew it, she could see the fisherman on the port and the small boats tied to the dock.

Their speed slowed, and she could vaguely hear the people of Hargeon screeching in terror and awe as the flew over. They made a hard right at the local Magic Council Headquarters, and Lucy nearly smacked herself.

Lucy gasped, scurrying down the creature's back to peer over the side. A rush of relief overcame her when she spotted the criminals where she'd left them. All four dangled by a thick chain that wrapped around a spike on the beast's tail.

One of them, the more tame one, was awake. He flinched when her eyes landed on his, and Lucy inwardly applauded herself for being able to strike such a fear in him. She withdrew, keeping her eyes on him until she no longer could.

They veered a hard right. Lucy and Happy suddenly found themselves sideways, dangling from the fur. Just as quickly as it had started, it was over. An uncharacteristic whine escaped her mouth, and Lucy rubbed her chest as she struggled to regain the wind that had been knocked out of her.

Happy went into a fairly over dramatic coughing fit that went on much longer than it should have. Plucking him on the forehead, Lucy simply went back to examining her now well lit surroundings.

The sun had come up and the beautiful grasslands that surrounded Hargeon thinned out, morphing into a desert-esque landscape. They traveled in companionable silence for a half hour before Happy pointed out the small sprouts of grass emerging from the grass.

Lucy was surprised he could even see them at their speed. They rapidly began to be more noticeable, until the tall grass turned into a full-blown forest. Lucy grinned ear to ear. She knew these forests like the back of her hand, along with the town they surrounded.

"That's a really creepy look on your face," Happy commented, completely ruining the serenity of her moment.

"Can it, Happy!" Lucy snapped, sending him a glare. He held in his laughter until he could no more, and burst into fits of giggles.

In the back of her mind, the blonde noticed that they were steadily getting closer to the ocean, but it didn't really register until they were directly over it, and the griffin-like creature stopped beating its wings. They dropped toward the ocean like rock.

* * *

 **Finished on 11/3/16.**

 **Found a mistake? Tell me in a review and I'll fix it! Got a critic? Drop it in a review, I read all of them!**


	3. Chapter 3

**. Celestials .**

* * *

 _"I'm checking in, as I promised." She said, still unhappy that she agreed to do such a thing in the first place._

 _"Good," Makarov replied, examining her carefully. He held the crystal communication ball in his hands as he slid from his chair. "I think you've had enough time to cool off. A year is a very long time you know," He chided._

 _She eyed him suspiciously. "What are you getting at, Gramps?"_

 _"It's time for you to make amends. Elfman, Mira, take this. You better not hang up until you've all forgiven each other." Makarov pawned the lacrima crystal off to the two siblings. Before any arguments could be had from the woman on the other side, he speed walked out of the room and closed the door._

 _He was no doubt eavesdropping in the hallway._

 _There was a tense, awkward silence for several moments. Mira and Elfman looked anywhere but at the communication lacrima, and she did the same. "I should apologize. It wasn't really your fault she... died." She said finally, voice lowering at the last word as if it would bring about a terrible curse._

 _They still didn't look at one another. "No," Elfman said quickly, eyes fixing on the bookshelf across the room. "I should've known I couldn't do it. I went passed my limits and everybody got hurt."_

 _MiraJane placed a comforting hand on his elbow. "No it was my fault we lost her, I'm the big sister after all. I should've been able to protect all of my little siblings."_

 _"I don't want to talk about it like that. I'm not going to place blame. What's done is done, and Lisanna's not coming back. Let's all just be friends. Even if we weren't really before, we're going to be now. Forgiveness?"_

 _Mira smiled. "Who needs friends? Family. We're family and we always will be. Right Elf?"_

 _"Yeah," The burly man nodded, tearing his eyes away and looking at the blonde they were talking too._

 _"Family is even better. I'll see you all when I get back?" The question was simple, but the hidden meaning behind it made Mira want to cry._

 _"Yes! Every head will be in place, promise. I've even started approving the missions myself, so I know where everyone is. You know who to ask if you want to know." Mira sent her an even brighter smile._

 _"Yeah," The blonde said, rolling her eyes. She gave them each a sincere look. "Her anniversary was two days ago. Tell Natsu to put flowers on her grave for me." The lacrima feed cut out and she was gone._

* * *

Lucy wouldn't be surprised if Happy's terrified shrieks could be heard all throughout Magnolia. She couldn't blame him. They were falling from around six thousand feet and, if her voice hadn't gotten caught in her throat from fright, she'd be screaming even louder than him.

At some point, the furry, winged beast transformed into a face that she would gladly kick into oblivion. She reached out in a gesture akin to that of strangling someone. He hardly noticed.

"Hey Lucy!" He said nonchalantly as he managed to defy the winds acting upon them cool throw his arms around his head. "How's it going?"

She screamed at him so loud her throat hurt. "Natsu-fucking-Dragneel!"

He flinched, suddenly sweating bullets. Lucy didn't swear. Much. But when she did, one could be damn sure that the devil had clawed his way up from hell and claimed a new victim.

"Lucy, there's nothing wrong, we're over water. It'll be a soft landing," He tried to reason with the monster, but all he got was a furious glare and a thick iron chain smacking him in the face, leaving a shallow cut in its wake. The celestial mage liked to think of that as some form of comeuppance.

"Soft? Are you an idiot? The surface tension of water is practically the same as concrete! We'll die as soon as we hit!" The blonde snarled. She snatched the chain and wrapped it securely around her hand, not wishing to lose her criminals.

After a long, undecipherable look, his response did nothing to ease her worries, "Pssh, that's crazy,"

She started to bite out a witty comeback but stopped herself. Her last moments weren't going to be spent arguing over something as trivial as if they would die on impact or die via drowning; or worse, Aquarius' rage over the unavoidable dropping of her key.

Tuning out the noise of the wind and the screams of the three felons-the burnt one, who she learned was Bora, was still unconscious—Lucy instead chose to focus on a screech that _wasn't_ there. Happy was silent. She looked to where he had been, right above her head, and found that he was gone. A quick scan of the fast-approaching waters below showed that he wasn't there, either.

Pushing the issue to the back of her mind, she instead decided to asses their options. Her spirits were out; her magic was low when she walked up to the ticket both to being with, and summoning two more keys didn't do her any good.

Natsu clearly wasn't going to be of any use, as he just sat there waiting for something. Or to hit the water, she couldn't really tell which. The criminals were out, using them as an impact cushion was out of the question along with the idea of letting them out of the magic nullifying chains.

The blonde relented. There clearly weren't any options, so she took Natsu's lead and waited, for what, she wasn't yet sure of.

* * *

Happy broke a window zooming into the guildhall. "Happy," MiraJane began, intent on scolding him, "What have I told you about—"

"Natsu dropped himself over the river again." He rushed out, half glad that he could temporarily avoid Mira's reprimand. The barmaid turned and began rushing down the length of the bar towards an old man drinking a mug of beer.

"Master! Natsu's done it again!" She cried out. Without wasting a second, the small man raced down the bar, heading straight for the back entrance.

"That fool, always disobeying orders," He grumbled to himself as he approached the water. He sidestepped an empty barrel, which no doubt used to be filled with booze.

"Cana," He began, looking at her as she stared intently into the near-clear blue sky. "Catch him for me, will you?"

She hiccuped. Standing to her feet lazily as she reached into the bag hanging near her hips. "Yeah, alright,"

She threw nearly twenty cards into the relative area that Natsu would land. Needless to say, it was a large circle. With a short chant and a few quick hand movements, a blob flexible white... something spread inside the area that she had thrown her cards. It was nearly two stories high, more than enough room for the idiot to bounce a few times and slow his momentum.

Seeing that the spell was successful, Cana began to stumble her way to the guild. A simple, slightly slurred "'M outa booze" was all Makarov was given.

The guild master, however, didn't move an inch. A few moments later, six bodies crashed into Cana's safety blob. Makarov's raised his brow, only expecting one. Nonetheless, he waited for them to break surface.

He wasn't waiting long, because not a second later, two of them broke surface. Natsu swam over, lifting himself onto solid land. "Hey Gramps,"

Makarov looked up at him, "Natsu! What have I told you about flying around like that?"

Natsu stared at him blankly. "I... I forgot?"

Before the old man could go on to scold him further, Lucy interrupted. "Little help? These guys aren't exactly light, and I can't have them drowning,"

"Lucy!" Makarov exclaimed, his surprise showing through, "When did you get here?" he asked gleefully, pulling her out of the water.

"You smell. And not in a good way." Natus said bluntly, wrinkling his nose. Regardless, he gave two hard yanks to the chain and it was pulled to the surface and onto land, the criminals along with it.

"Wow, I'm flattered," Lucy gave him a glare as she lugged the convicts into the guild, mumbling curses under her breath.

"I expect a full explanation once we get inside, or by the end of the day."

Natsu deflated, "Fine, but can it wait 'til tomorrow?"

Makarov gave a nod. "Tell me when I get back from the Monthly Guild Master's Meeting."

* * *

"Don't ask." She growled questioning guild-mates as she march through the building, sopping wet and dragging around four half-dead bodies. She made a b-line for the far back wall, toward a lone door next to the steps leading up to the S-Class floor.

Eventually, people shrugged her off and a fight broke out. She hardly noticed Happy's cries for help as he was being lectured by MiraJane. Lucy muttered another curse as she narrowly avoided getting hit in the face with an empty mug. Making it to her destination, she flung open the door, revealing a dimly lit set of stairs.

The unconscious bodies behind her thudded on each step, only serving to further her ever-growing headache. The first four empty cells she saw, she flung them each in, one for every person. Her shoes made annoying squelching sounds as she walked back up the stairs, leaving small puddles in their wake.

As she walked toward the bar, the everyday noise of the guild drowned out the sound of her shoes. Honestly, Lucy wasn't sure which one she liked better. She didn't realize how exhausted she was until she took a seat at the bar and her head dropped onto the wood with a dull thud. Water pooled under her, and it did nothing to enhance her mood.

"Welcome back,"

She barely tilted her head enough to recognize the shining white hair. With a groan she replied, "Do you have any spare clothes?" She croaked out miserably

With a hum Mira pulled a bright yellow garment from under the bar. "I thought you'd ask," She placed the dress next to the blonde, along with some sandals. "You can change behind the bar, if you'd like," The barmaid offered before walking away to tend to other guild-mates.

Whining, Lucy used her arms to bring herself over to the other side, ducking behind the bar. She wasn't surprised to see that the dress fit perfectly, and was actually quite nice. It was a plain, backless dress that tied around her neck and ended around her knees. It was comfortable, she thought to herself.

Rising to a standing position, Lucy picked up her brown belt and key pouch from where she'd left it on the bar. She buckled it around her waist, and it ended up lopsided, half on her waist and half on her hip.

Feeling marginally better because she was no longer wet, weighed down, and cold, Lucy climbed back over the bar and seated herself next to her original stool, because that was wet, too. "Lucy~"

She paused, turning her head to face a slightly tipsy brunette. "Hey Cana," She greeted before turning her chair to survey the rest of the guild. "What's up?"

Cana delayed in answering to lean over the bar and snatch up a bottle of wine. She used her teeth pop the cork out. "How was the mission? Saw that you came in wet, pun intended,"

Lucy didn't understand what the pun was supposed to be, but answered her question anyway. "It was fine. I completely exhausted my magic trying to catch them in Bosco before they got away. Actually, I'm still pretty tired," Lucy shook her head when Cana offered her a drink, "You know I don't drink,"

Cana smirked, wiggling her eyebrows, "That's why you should. You'd probably be a horny drunk." She took a swig from the bottle, sighing as she savored the taste.

Lucy's face went cherry red. "It's ten in the morning, you really shouldn't be drinking,"

"Who cares," Cana said, shrugging as she took another drink.

"I do." Mira said as she walked by, taking the drink from Cana's hands. "I though we agreed that there would be no drinking before eleven,"

Cana laughed sheepishly, "Yeah, well,"

"So," Lucy began, kicking her feet, "What's the deal with Natsu? He turned into this weird flying thing earlier this morning,"

Mira put a hand over her mouth as she giggled. "Oh that," She laughed some more before starting to explain, "Well, last month Natsu and Happy went on a mission up north to look for a dark mage-it was from the Magic Council, surprisingly-which they also took to look for Igneel. They discovered him in his layer and incapacitated him. There were a few potions and, for some reason, Happy dared Natsu to drink one." Mira sighed towards the end.

Cana rolled her eyes, taking over to finish the story. "And, Natsu being the dolt that he is, did it. The council didn't bill us, because they got what they wanted anyway, but Levy is still trying to figure out how to reverse the effects. She hasn't been able to go on missions, so her team's been paying for her expenses."

Lucy gave a slow blink. "Wow," She said slowly, finding Levy sitting in a secluded area with Jet and Droy fawning over her, "What an idiot."

Cana nodded, slipping a mini-bottle from her bag. "You're telling me,"

"Cana," Mira growled. The brunette grunted, dropping the bottle on the table next to the wine. "You have thirty minutes."

The woman sniffled, "Fine."

"Listen up, brats!" Makarov's voice rang through the guild, silencing the fight that was going on in the background along with all talking. Everyone moved to look up at the railing on the top floor, where the guild master stood. He held up a thick stack of papers for everyone to see.

"Now that everyone's here, I have an announcement to make." He cleared his throat, scanning the crowd and fixing them all with a steely glare. "The Council's been on my ass since the beginning of the month. Cana, you cleared out a bar and billed it all on the council. That's the second time this year." Makarov shuffled the papers, revealing a new one.

"Gray," He announced as he scanned the document. "After you completed a mission in Aster you proceeded to walk around the town naked and steal underwear off a clothesline before fleeing the scene. You're lucky we're not getting sued for all the children you've scarred for life." He shifted the papers once more, and while he paused, people began to tease the two mages.

Makarov proceeded to read out everyone's wrong-doings, some people had multiple complaints, while others had few. Finally, after a few minutes of Makarov reading out complaints and people joking on each other, the guild master had reached the final few.

"Vijiteer, stop wearing that outfit," He looked up to examine the dancer, "We can see _everything_ ," a page turn, and his temper seemed to flare. "Natsu! You misdirected an attack from a yacht off the coast of Hargeon. You destroyed the Mayor's house! And prior to that you destroyed seven houses chasing a group of bandits!"

Lucy shook her head, "You guys really need to learn how to control yourselves," She commented.

Makarov looked up at her frowning. "I wouldn't get on my high horse just yet if I were you," he said, then turned the page. "This one just came in this morning. Apparently you flooded a small town on the Bosconian coastline, destroyed their port, and left ship debris in the water. You, Lucy, are now wanted in Bosco."

Lucy choked, nearly falling out of her seat, "I... but... that just happened and it wasn't even my fault!" She objected with a squeak, trying not to listen to the laughs and teases she was receiving.

The old man gave hum that clearly said 'I don't believe a word you are saying right now.' Lucy looked down at lap in defeat, face red from embarrassment. "The lot of you brats have no self control; no discipline." His eyes once again scanned the crowd of young people. "Half the time you can't do what the council's telling you to do. These complaints are evidence of that," He waved the papers in the air for them to see.

"And even when when you do what they ask, you destroy a shit-ton of crap along the way." He sighed, and most held their heads in something akin to shame. "But to hell with what the Magic Council says you can and cannot do! As mages, it is your job to let loose, go all out, never hold back! We fight to have fun, we fight to make comrades, we fight to protect the people. That is what Fairy Tail is truly about!"

The papers caught fire, and Makarov threw them into the crowd, where Natsu chomped down on them like they were the last meal of his life. The guild gave a roar of approval, and Makarov stuck his fist in the air, pointer finger and thumb pointing outward while the other fingers curled in; the official Fairy Tail sign. Everyone followed suit, and when Makarov jumped down from the railing to go into his office, they proceeded to have a party at eleven in the morning.

* * *

Lucy stumbled tiredly into her unkempt cottage in the woods at three a.m. the next day. Dust covered the place, and the ceiling leaked in several different locations. A sizable hole hovered over a makeshift kitchen in the corner. She hardly noticed, too consumed in the fact that she hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours.

Her face contorted into a yawn several times before she could collapse onto her bed, which caused dust to fly up everywhere. She resisted the urge to sneeze. She placed 'find a new place' at the top of her mental to-do list, right after 'see creepy old medical lady,' and 'turn in criminals in the cellar to the Magic Council.' After another face-breaking yawn she rolled over on her side and closed her eyes.

She slept like a rock, thankfully undisturbed.

* * *

 **Finished on 12/3/16.**


	4. Chapter 4

. **Celestials** .

* * *

Lucy yawned, rolling over. A yelp escaped her throat when she unexpectedly fell off of her bed, hitting the ground with a dull thump. She bolted upright, coming face to face with a pink haired teenager.

The blonde blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice. "What are you doing in my house?" She tiredly, unable to muster enough energy to yell at him.

Natsu scoffed, and Happy laughed at her from his perch on the boy's shoulder. "It's two pm, Lucy! You said we could go on a mission today!" He exclaimed, grabbing her arm and yanking her up from her seated position on the floor.

She looked at him in confusion. "I did?" She couldn't remember such a promise being made. Maybe it was all the milkshakes she drank? Yeah, that must have been it. The milkshakes.

"Yeah! It was right after Cana groped you and right before you had your twelth milkshake!"

A blush overtook her features, covering her ears, cheeks, and neck. _That_ certainly wasn't apart of her memories of yesterday. She decided to address this mission that he spoke of.

"Oh... Well I have to visit Porlyusica, first. What's the mission?" The blonde moved over to her dresser and began to rummage through her clothes for a few seconds before she realized that none of them would fit her. Letting out a frustrated breath of air, she slipped on her shoes and left, Natsu and happy trailing behind her.

"We dunno yet," Happy answered, plopping himself on her head. "We were gonna let you choose, Lucy,"

Despite her bitterness over not having any wearable clothes, Lucy felt a smile slip onto her face. "Thanks."

The walk from her house to Porlyusica's was filled with playful banter and casual talk. When they reached the old woman's house, which was more or less a huge tree that was hollowed out on the inside, they stopped in front of the steps.

"Let's get this over with," Lucy mumbled, shuffling her feet as she ascended the stairs. Natsu and Happy retreated to hide behind a thick tree, both intent on avoiding the old woman's wrath. After a few deep breaths to psych herself up, the blonde knocked on the door.

The door opened in seconds. "What do you want, human?" The healer snapped, her stare drilling a hole into her skull. Lucy took a step back out of fright. She held her hands up, as if to show that she was harmless.

"Master wanted me to get a ch—"

"You're fine, go away." Having examined her quickly in the short time her door was open, Porlyusica slammed the door in the blondes face. Though it was muffled, Lucy could make out the phrase, "Filthy humans," being grumbled.

She began making her way down the series of steps. Halfway down, the old woman ripped the door open once again. "And give this to that blue girl," She bit out, throwing something at the back of the blonde's head.

Lucy barely had enough time to spin on her heel and catch the object. She held it at eye level as she continued down the stairs.

Inside a small vile was a thick, purplish black fluid, held inside by a cork. A note was held to it by a string. Lucy didn't dare open it.

"Wow, Lucy," Happy chirped when she reached them, "She almost tore your face off!"

The blonde squished his cheeks. "Shut it, cat." She grumbled, letting him go and stalking away. Happy and Natsu exchanged chuckles before trailing after their companion.

When they reached the guild thirty minutes later, the place was in chaos. People were frantically cleaning and, somehow, making even more of a mess doing so. "Natsu!" A voice called out urgently.

Levy rushed over, holding a cup filled with a strange looking fluid. "Drink this, and hurry!" She shoved it into his hands, waiting impatiently for him to drink it.

"Hey," Lucy greeted, "What's going on?" She asked, getting straight to the point.

Levy, though a smile graced her face at the sight of her friend, wasted no time in explaining, "Erza coming, we're trying to clean. As you can see, it's not working out so well." She glanced back at everyone, who had started an argument over who was supposed to be cleaning what.

"Really, I'm just trying to get Natsu back to normal before she gets back. She left on an S-Class mission before the incident, so she doesn't know. Master want's us to keep it that way." Levy said.

Lucy scoffed. "Erza coming back is really no big deal. It's not like she's that scary," She commented, shaking her head in disapproval.

Levy looked at her in a strange way, "Maybe not to you, you're almost just as bad, what with being wanted in Bosco and all," She teased. The small blue haired girl glanced at Natsu, noticing he still hadn't drank it. Losing her patience, Levy yelled at him, "Drink it already, damnit!"

Lucy blinked slowly. Levy hadn't cursed since someone dumped a bucket of red paint on her three years ago.

He flinched, holding it away from his face. "But it smells so bad," He whined childishly. Looking from Levy to Natsu, Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Here," She snatched the drink from Natsu's hands and held the cup up to his mouth. "Open,"

When he didn't Levy stomped on his toe, causing him to yelp. Seizing her opportunity, Lucy poured the contents of the cup into his mouth and forced him to swallow. "There," She nodded, handing the glass back to her friend. "Don't you feel so much better now?"

Natsu gagged, leaning on the door frame. "No! That was disgusting!" Happy giggled at his misery.

There was a snarl from behind him. "Do you mind? You're standing in the doorway, dumbass," Gray said, directing his statement at Natsu. The addressee scowled.

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to, huh, Ice Dick?" He turned to glare at his rivals face. Sensing a fight, Levy scampered away to clean up her mess of chemicals and books. Also not wanting to get involved, Lucy moved away just as the two started exchanging petty insults.

"Jane!" She called out to the woman who was happily wiping away at the already pristine counter top. At the sound of her name, she looked up.

"Oh! What is it that you need, Lucy?" She asked, straightening to look the blonde in the eye.

"I need to borrow some of your clothes. Mine don't exactly fit anymore..." She trailed off, mind wandering to dread the money she was about to spend on a whole new wardrobe.

Mira perked, tossing her rag in the sink and patting invisible dirt from her dark pink dress. "No problem! Follow me," She lifted up a part on the bar, gesturing for Lucy to follow her. Once the brown eyed girl had passed through the opening, MiraJane lead them to the far end of the bar where a locked door was.

She pulled a key out of her waistband and looked around to find someone who wasn't participating in the fight that had exploded in the middle of the guild. "Laki! Would you mind watching the bar for a few minutes?"

Laki smiled, "Sure!" With that Mira stuck the key in the hole and turned it. The locked clicked and the door swung open, revealing a well lit room.

On the far back wall was a bed, a door standing on either side. "The walk-in-closet is over there, take your pick at what you want," Mira pointed out, removing the key from the lock and tucking it back where it was before.

"One more thing, Jane," Lucy said as Mira turned to leave. "What caused Natsu to turn into that strange thing?"

The barmaid covered her mouth as she giggled. "Two weeks ago, Natsu and Happy went on a mission in the mountains west of Crocus. Long story short, a dark mage was captured and Happy dared Natsu to drink one of the potions in the mages laboratory. He did, of course."

Lucy snorted, "I should have known it something along those lines." She sighed.

Mira nodded and closed the door as she left, and Lucy vaguely heard a muffled "Thanks, Laki," as she made her way to the closet.

Opening the door, Lucy realized that at some point, she had died, and was now in heaven.

* * *

"Screw you, Ice-bastard!" Natsu cried, sending a punch at the man's face.

"No, screw you!" The ice mage screamed, directing his punch at Natsu's face.

Just as each punch connected, and they both flew into opposite walls of the guild, the large set of wooden doors were thrown open. All action and conversation stopped, dread filling almost every mage in the area. Slowly, all heads turned to face the figure at the entrance.

"Erza!" Loke squeaked in an uncharacteristically high pitched voice.

She waltzed in, bringing the gigantic horn on her shoulder with her, along with her highly intimidating attitude. "Hello Loke," She acknowledged, setting the horn on the ground with a thud.

"What's with the horn?" Droy asked. When Erza turned her gaze on him, he instantly regretted it.

"The townspeople decorated the horn of the beast I slayed for them. Is there a problem?" She asked. Droy shook his head in refusle.

Erza's sight returned to Loke, and she looked at him with hard eyes. "I see you're still bringing strange women into the guild," The redhead commented, eyeing the girls he had on either arm.

They each let out an 'eep!' and scurried past her, running down the street in fright. "Nab!" She snapped once her eyes landed on the skull-wearing man, "Why are you still in the same place I left you last month? Pick a job already!"

With that, Erza kicked into full reprimand mode. She moved around the guild, chastising any and everything that wasn't up to her standards.

"And Mira!" She said, landing on the last person. Everyone gave silent sighs of relief, glad that she was done with her crusade. Erza held a hand to her chin, looking especially pleased. "The bar looks lovely, as always. What type of polish did you use this time?"

From a few seats away, Cana nearly choked on her drink, not expecting such and out of the park question. Erza slid her gaze over to the brunette, "Cana, you should drink slower. You could choke," She advised.

Mira laughed. "Nothing special," she said, intent on not revealing her secrets. "Cake?" She offered, reaching pull up a slice she'd stashed under the bar before the woman's arrival. Erza tensed.

"No... I... I have urgent matters to attend to... Maybe... later..." It was clear as day that it was taking everything Erza had to resist the sweet, sweet temptation of a delicious strawberry cake. Mira placed it back where she got it, and the redhead visibly relaxed.

"Is Master Makarov present?" Erza continued, deciding to ignore the thought of cake.

Mira looked on in confusion, "No, he left for the Guild Master's Meeting earlier this morning," She informed, worry suddenly taking over her features, "Why, what happened?"

Erza held a hand to her chin, in deep thought. After a few moments, she seemed to have made up her mind. "No, it's nothing we won't be able to handle on our own. Natsu, Gray!" She called, turning to the two that had appeared at her side when their names had been called.

"Yes ma'am!" They both called, glaring at each other out of the corner of their eyes.

"The three of us will be going on a special mission. I'd prefer if Laxus, or maybe Lucy, were here to assist, but it can't be helped," She explained, mumbling the last part to herself. Coming out of her thoughts, Erza continued on, "Meet me at the train station at three-thirty, we haven't any time to waste!"

"But that's twenty minutes from now," Gray pointed out, and Erza directed a glare at him.

"I am aware. The next train to Clover won't leave for another four hours if we don't catch this one. Do you have a problem, Gray?"

"No!" He exclaimed instantly, straightening his back out of habit.

"Good," She said, turning on her heel to gather her things for their self-appointed mission. Natsu and Gray spared each other one last glare before racing out the doors to get their things.

Everyone continued about their business for the next few minutes, undisturbed.

Lucy skipped out of Mira's room, wearing plain black shorts and a bright red short sleeved shirt, along with the brown boots she'd came in wearing. A bag rested against her back, most likely filled with a few more sets of clothes.

"Thanks for the clothes, Jane!" She sang, hopping over the bar to sit in her seat.

Mira smiled, "It was no trouble. Erza just left, though. She's taking Natsu and Gray on a mission with her, but she did say that it would be better if you'd be there. It looks like her wish has been granted!" Mira paused to giggle, "Head to the train station. They should be leaving in around ten minutes."

Lucy perked. "Thanks," She ran out the door, determined to make it to the other side of town before the train left.

Cana leaned back in her seat, a smirk settled on her lips. "I wouldn't be surprised if they destroyed a town." She chuckled, sipping her mug.

Mira laughed. "They've certainly never went on a mission all together. I'd say that they were Fairy Tail's strongest team." She squealed, bouncing on her heels, "I just have to tell Master the great news."

"I don't think he's gonna take it so well," Cana muttered around her drink.

* * *

She munched eagerly on a pretzel. It was perfectly salted, and she was considering eating another before the rest got there.

"Please?" Happy pleaded, reaching for the food.

Lucy jerked it away, snorting. "Nope. I saw you eat three fish at the guild today. I haven't eaten yet and I'm definitely not sharing." She said, shoving the rest into her mouth.

"Where's Natsu? I'm sure he'd get you one,"

Happy shook his head. "He's gonna be late. I didn't want Erza to beat me up too, so I just left without him."

Lucy gasped, "How cruel of you," She slid some money to the vendor, who gave her another pretzel in return. Happy stared at her hungrily. Finally, he sat next to her on the bench, pouting.

"Fatty," He grumbled, sticking his nose in the air.

Lucy froze mid-chew, her eyes sliding over to stare menacingly at the talking cat, "What," She said, swallowing her bite, "Did you say to me?"

Happy gulped, already sweating bullets. "Nothing!"

Lucy nodded, "I thought so,"

As she finished off her food, Gray came sprinting over, looking in all directions for any sign of the terrifying redhead. "She's not here yet," Lucy said, clearly amused as she brushed crumbs from her hands.

Gray let out a sigh of relief, keeling over and panting to catch his breath. "Thank Mavis," He rasped. After he caught his breath, he seemed to take more notice of her presence. "Why are you here?" He asked curiously, taking a seat on the bench next to her.

Lucy shrugged passively, "Mira told me to come. Would you like to put your jacket back on?" She asked, pulling it from where it landed on her head.

"What? Damnit!" He cursed once he took notice of his missing item of clothing. He hurriedly put it on, not wanting get caught without it.

Natsu strolled up to the group, whistling leisurely. "Hey Lucy," He greeted unsurprising that she was there. "Ice Princess," He sounded slightly impressed.

Gray smirked. "What, impressed with my stupidly good looks?"

"No," Natsu started, grinning mischievously, "Just surprised that you made it here with all your clothes on."

His rival's eye twitched, and he once again pushed his forehead up against Natsu's. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" He growled.

Natsu pushed back with equally as much force. "It means that you're a dirty stripper." He shot back.

The two stood there glaring at each other for several minutes. As they were about to start exchanging blows, a shadow loomed over them. Shivering, the bickering males turned to look.

They came face to face with a not-too-pleased Erza and a huge pile of luggage. "I do hope you two aren't fighting," Even though her voice was barely above a whisper, the silent threat was clear.

Another shiver forced it's way down their spines. "No, Erza!" They said simultaneously. Behind the trio, Lucy and Happy laughed with eachother. The whole thing put together just made a strange sight, as evidenced by the strange looks passer-by gave them, specifically Erza's mountainous pile of luggage.

Switching subjects, Erza turned her attention to Lucy and Happy, "Lucy, Happy, what a pleasant surprise to see you two here. Regardless, forgive me for being late, I was held up at the entrance,"

"Uh, it's no biggie," Lucy said, only imagining why Erza would get held up. She slipped a hand into her back pocket, bringing out four shiny gold tickets. "Well, I have the tickets so we should probably leave before the train departs." She eyed Erza's luggage cart, wondering if they'd be able to get it all on in time.

"You should probably requip that into storage, it'll save us a lot of time."

Erza looked from Lucy, to her bags, and back; wide eyed. "What a splendid idea, Lucy! The thought hadn't even crossed my mind." She gasped, turning and placing a hand on the pile. It was engulfed in purple light before it flashed out of existence.

"Last call for Oshibana Town! I repeat, last call for Oshibana Town!" The conductor's voice sounded over the intercom, and Erza turned towards the train and pointed a commanding finger at it.

"Onward, fellow mages, to the train!"

* * *

An hour later, Lucy found herself sitting on a moving train with Natsu sprawled across her lap, fingers reaching longingly toward the window. His face was a sickly green, and he looked like he'd throw up at any given second.

Gray shifted in his seat, tugging at the collar of his shirt. "So what's this about? It must be pretty important for you to rush us out like this." He asked, the question being directed at Erza, who was deep in thought. His jacket had long since been lost due to his stripping habit.

Erza looked up, clearing her throat. "Ah, yes, allow me to explain. It has come to my knowledge that a dark guild has come to posses an item by the name of Lullaby."

* * *

 **Finished on 12/4/16.**


	5. Chapter 5

**. Celestial .**

* * *

 _"Are you sure you don't want me to come along?"_

 _She had crossed her arms defiantly and stuck her nose in the air. "Of course! This was the easiest S-Class mission on the board! And besides," She said, a soft smile coming to her lips, "I can protect myself just fine. Even if I can't I've got these guys to watch my back," With a wave of her arm, she gestured to the two standing behind her._

 _The woman, clearly her sister, tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. In a stark contrast, the beast of a man waited silently for the two best friends to finish saying their good-byes._

 _"You don't have to protect me." She had said this softly, patting her blonde hair._

 _She cringed, "Will you at least let Natsu and Happy tag along? They've been moping about it all day!"_

 _They all looked back at the pair, who were sulking at the bar, but somehow still managed to shove mountains of food into their mouths._

 _The blue-eyed girl had laughed at the sight. "They'll get over it. See you when we get back?" She said, holding her arms open for a hug._

 _The blonde nodded, grinning, "Yeah, see ya when you get back!"_

 _They had hugged, and then she was gone._

* * *

"Lullaby? What's that?" Gray asked, looking puzzled.

Lucy sighed, scratching her head with one hand and petting a sleeping Happy on the head using the other. "Lullaby is a magic flute. It's song is supposed to bring eternal slumber to anyone who listens to it. In other words, irreversible death; no resuscitation."

Erza nodded in agreement. "Yes, and it also happens to be a demon hailing from The Book of Zeref. You know what that is, I've explained this to you once before. But as I was saying, it has come under the possession of the dark guild Eisenwald."

Lucy jerked. Happy rolled over contently and purred. "Eisenwald? You mean the former legal guild that slaughtered a small village? _That_ Eisenwald?"

The redhead nodded her head grimly. "I am afraid so."

"Are you sure?" Gray asked.

Her gaze flicked over to Lucy, who was no longer listening, then back to Gray. "Positive." Erza crossed her legs as she began to retell the story, having half a mind to wonder what Lucy was planning. "I was returning from my previous mission and happened to stop by a small tavern. I needed to freshen up, and while I drank my water, I noticed a suspicious group of people exchanging words rather loudly in a corner."

"What did they look like?" Gray interrupted.

"That is of no importance. They were arguing. One of them had successfully retrieved Lullaby, but they debated over who would take the credit. At the time I hadn't realized that it was the death flute they were speaking of and, though they did look suspicious, I left them be as the had done nothing worthy of interrogation. Unfortunately, I was on the train and halfway to Magnolia when I figured out their scheme." She seemed visibly angry at herself, but calmed down a few seconds later.

Gray decided not to mention it, lest he get his face bashed in. "Okay, that makes sense, but why are we on a train to Oshibana?"

"That is a valid question, Gray," Erza was clearly pleased that he'd been paying attention. "I overheard something about the last stop before Clover Town, and that happens to be Oshibana. Of course, we'll have to switch trains and ride for another thirty minutes before we can get there, but it can't be helped."

"I have a plan." Lucy announced, shaking Happy awake. Natsu gave a pained moan, rolling off the seat and landing on the floor. Happy grunted, but started to pay attention.

"What is it? We should all be clear of the instructions to avoid getting into a mindless free-for-all." Erza declared, mentally applauding Lucy for her for-thought.

"First," the blonde started, "We'll evacuate the people around the station. Actually, everyone within a mile of the area should leave. Happy, you'll go to Clover and tell Master what's going on. Erza will come with me and take the back exit in. Gray and Natsu will take the front. The best thing to do is wait until Master gets there and can control the situation. If all else fails, we can probably defeat Eisenwald ourselves. Our main goal is to make sure Lullaby isn't used."

* * *

"Are we forgetting something?" Happy drawled, glancing at the members of the group.

"Nah," Gray shrugged him off, pulling on his forgotten coat as they began to make their way out of the mostly empty train station.

Erza headed towards the bathrooms. "We'll have to wait for a few minutes before-"

"We forgot Natsu." Lucy said, rubbing her forehead in irritation at their own thoughtlessness. "We're gonna have to go get 'em."

Erza looked absolutely mortified. "How can I have been so careless? You there! Stop the train that has just previously departed!" She commanded, marching over to a nearby worker.

He blinked in shock. "What? No! My only job is to watch the emergency stop button, I'm not just going to let you push it." He scoffed at her, clearly not knowing exactly who he was dealing with.

"Very well. Please step aside." Giving him no time to protest, Erza sent him crashing to the ground with a punch to the face and ripped out the emergency stop button. Alarms rang throughout the station, and the people who were there screamed and ran away in panic.

Gray shrugged, now without his jacket. "Well, I guess that's one way to do it."

Lucy and Happy nodded in agreement. Erza came bounding along, grabbing them both by the collar and dragging them away from the station. Spotting a nearby magic-mobile, she dashed forward, allowing them to trail behind. "I will drive!" She declared, sliding into the front seat. Happy, Lucy, and Gray climbed into the backseat.

With practiced ease, she attached the pump to her wrist and tore off down the road, narrowly avoiding running into pedestrians. "Erza, you're banned from driving!" Happy shrieked.

Lucy gasped, "Really? Since when?"

"You don't wanna know," Gray said, shivering at the memory.

"We have no time to waste! It would be much more efficient if I were to take the wheel." She countered matter-of-factly. They made a hard left out of the city, and Lucy barely avoided flying out of the window, her nose grazing the surface of the last building of the town.

Gray grabbed onto her by the waist and yanked her back into the car. "Thanks," Lucy said breathlessly, frazzled by the event. Now she understood why Erza wasn't allowed to drive.

Lucy rushed to roll up the window, not wanting to risk a repeat. Gray leaned in and opened a small window one would use to communicate with their driver.

"How long til we get there?" He had to shout just for her to hear, and Erza's gaze didn't leave the rough terrain as she answered.

"Not far, maybe a minute or so at the speed we're going," Just as she finished, the back end of the train came into view, getting larger as they got closer.

Happy tried to pull a seat belt around himself. "You should buckle in. Erza isn't gonna slow until we get there." He tugged harder, and it came out slightly before pulling his body back and smacking him into the seat.

The blonde chuckled. She set him in her lap and pulled the belt over both of them, and Gray did the same with himself. He clenched the edge of the seat so hard his knuckles turned white.

The four-wheeler approached the train, and even though Lucy remembered it being fairly empty, she could here the terrified shrieks of passengers. Eleven compartments from the front, the side of a car exploded. A man was pushed out of the newly created hole, and he clutched three-eyed flute while wiping blood from the side of his mouth.

Erza stomped on the breaks, and the car came halting to a fast stop. The came to a skidding stop a mere inches before the man. He looked over at them in mild shock, and before Erza could get a threat out, he simply vanished into a purple shadow. The redhead was left speechless, mouth open with a shout begging to be released.

"Come on Erza, we don't have time to sit around gaping all day!" Lucy ran passed her, Gray dragging his feet behind her.

"Honestly, we don't even need him. I can handle both mine and FlameBrain's part of the mission." He said, rolling his eyes. He was promptly ignored by Lucy, who pulled herself onto the train.

"Gray, Happy, go tell the conductor and the rest of the passengers that everything will be fine. Bequick about it, please,"

"Aye!" Happy shouted, zipping to the front of the train to inform the conductor. Gray made his way to the back, each planning to work there way to the middle from the end.

Finally regaining her wits, Erza hopped onto the train and walked straight to the back of the compartment, where Natsu stood with a very confused expression on his face. "Natsu, you imbecile! You have set back our timing for the plan!" She grabbed him by the ear, and he gave a pathetic whine.

"Plan? What're you talking about?" Natsu tried in vain to make her let go, but Erza was not having any of it.

"You didn't even bother to listen to Lucy as she spoke? I suppose that we will just have to explain on the way." She pursed her lips, walked past Lucy, and threw him into the back of the car. Erza made a move to slide into the front seat, but Lucy stopped her.

"Two things, Erza; first: you've already used a lot of magic getting us here that quickly, so I'll drive us to the next stop, and two: you'll have to explain the plan to him as soon as we get there because of his motion sickness."

The redhead pondered this, "That is a fine idea Lucy, as your magical capacity is much greater than mine."

"Aw, you flatter me," She laughed as she took the wheel. "So all I've gotta do is follow the tracks?"

Erza nodded her head in confirmation.

"Lucy, Erza!" Happy cried, flying over to the pair. "Is Natsu okay?" As an afterthought, he added, "And the old guy at the front said that the guild will be billed for damages."

"Master will not be pleased," Erza sighed, taking a seat next to Lucy in the front. "We will leave as soon as Gray arrives, so prepare yourselves."

Just as she finished, Gray emerged from the gaping hole in the train car. "Everybody seems alright in there, but they kept screaming at me," He was clearly unaware of the fact that his shirt had disappeared, and he scratched the back of his head in confusion. Erza opened her mouth, clearly about to reprimand him, but Lucy cut her off.

"Come on, we've got places to be," She jammed a thumb in the direction of the back seat where Natsu was, and Gray reluctantly hopped in. After the door shut, Lucy floored it, the vehicle sucking up her magic like no tomorrow. "New plan," The blonde said, wiping sweat from her brow.

Erza glanced at her. "What do you have in mind?" She inquired, hair whipping around in the fierce wind. Even through the roar that it caused, they could both here Natsu moaning in pain, along with Gray and Happy's avid complaints.

"I'd hate to be back there," Lucy mumbled quickly. "But as for the plan," A devious grin spread across her face, "We fight Eisenwald and ask questions later!"

Titania stared at her dubiously. "Why... No, I see what you are getting at. Once the battle has started we can test our ability to work together in unplanned harmony, which is a fine idea!"

The blonde didn't have the heart to tell her that she knew Natsu wouldn't wait for anything no matter how crucial it was.

* * *

"How exactly are we going to deal with this flute if we can't stop in time?" Gray scowled, talking to Lucy and Erza through the port window. They had just entered Clover Town, and swung around a few side streets to avoid getting detained for blocking the railroad lines.

A shrug was his only answer. "We could poke holes in it!" Happy chimed. He sat nibbling on a fish he'd pulled out of his bag, looking completely content to ignore them all until that moment.

Lucy sighed. "If it comes down to it, we could always just snap it in half, but we should just avoid getting to that point all together," Her eyes slid over to Gray as they rounded a corner and pulled into the front of the train station, where chaos was taking place. "You're such a pessimist, Gray," The car jerked to a halt and Erza wasted no time in unbuckling.

"I'm just thinking of all our options here, okay?" He said, only half defensive as he pushed out of the back seat. Natsu dragged himself from the car, landing in a heap on the cobblestone. "Natsu! How many times have I told you: We haven't the time to waste, so get on your feet!" Erza barked, stomping passed him. He was up in seconds, although his face was still a sickly shade of green.

The team trailed after the redhead, pushing their way through the crowd surrounding Oshibana station. Lucy mumbled apologies on behalf of she and her teammates, but people gave the group glares anyway. Finally reaching the front, the teens broke out, only to be met with overwhelmed police officers. It was clear this was their first time dealing with a mob of questioning people.

In the panic of the guards, it was easy to slip past them into the interior of the blockade. Erza marched right up to the first man they saw and grabbed him by the collar. "What's happening inside?" When no answer was provided immediate, she punched him hard enough to knock him out and moved on to the next guard.

The same thing happened, and it took four knocked out guards for Erza to get the answers she wanted. "What is happening inside?" She inquired harshly, shaking him roughly. He visibly flinched.

"A dark guild has taken over the station! They have hostages, but the Ruin Knights have gone in to save them! But that was fifteen minutes ago, and the people outside are starting to panic." His voice was shaking, and the man was scared out of his mind. "Please, I have a family. Please don't kill me."

Seeming offended, Erza loosened her hold. "I would do on such thing! You need not worry Sir, we are mages of Fairy Tail here to help!" She let go of him entirely and lifted up her right pauldron to reveal her deep blue guild mark.

While Erza handled reassuring the officers, Lucy and Gray took the moment to calm down the crowd, with Happy helping Natsu get over the lingering effects of motion sickness.

Lucy took a megaphone from a guard. "Everybody, quiet!" At her commanding tone, the roar of the crowd was brought to a series of dull whispers. Gray lifted her unto his shoulders so everybody could see her, and the blonde gave him an appreciative pat on the head.

"We," She gestured to herself, Erza, Gray, Natsu, and Happy, "Are mages from a legal guild here to diffuse the situation. We'll get back your friends and family, but we must ask you to leave the immediate area. Get as far from this station as possible!"

Murmurs broke out among the crowd, and a man stepped up, a little girl attached to his back. "And how do we know you'll get our families back? If it's not safe for us, then it's not safe for them either; do you really expect us to just leave them behind?"

Lucy looked him dead in the eye. "Yes. You're going to have to trust us here. We'd never let anyone get hurt on our watch."

He seemed somewhat satisfied by the answer. He walk away, seemingly leading the crowd as the rest of them followed behind him.

"Please let others know they need to leave. The less people in the area the better." Lucy called out behind him.

A woman from the front of the crowd didn't move an inch. She was no older than twenty, and had flowing black hair, a flat chest, and wide hips. She wore a simple plaid shirt, jeans, and no shoes. "Excuse, my friends in there. I'm a speed mage, is there anything I can do to help?"

Lucy shifted on Gray's shoulders, unsure if she could put this woman in the line of fire. Before she could refuse, Gray had set her down and answered for her. "Yeah. The Monthly Guild Master's Meeting is happening in over Clover Town. Go get one of them, it doesn't really matter who, just get someone and bring them here. The cat will follow you."

"On it." Her hands gripped the hem of her shirt and she took it off. The girl turned her head to look back at them. "My name's Hana, by the way," She turned back around and took of her pants. Beneath what she was wearing, there was a skin-tight, black jumper. It started at the neck, ended at the ankles, and had no sleeves. The pair was given no time to question her, as she ran off, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust in her wake.

"Wow," Gray mumbled, "She looks like she'd be able to outrun even Jet."

"Happy, go with her. She's gonna need a vouch." Lucy said, and the cat gave an enthusiastic "Aye, Sir!" before sprouting his wings and flying after the blue eyed girl.

Erza, beckoned them over, "Alright, now that things out here are handled, let's take care of the problems inside."

Natsu, who had recovered, jumped up. "Hell yeah!" He barged into the station, fists ablaze. Erza smirked, and requiped a sword before sprinting in after him. Lucy and Gray exchanged a glance, grinned and ran inside.

They found Erza holding Natsu by the throat, hissing silent threats at him. They were pressed against a wall, and Erza was sneaking glances around the nearby corner. As Lucy and Gray moved closer, they began to see why she was holding Natsu back.

"The people are leaving, Erigor," A man's voice rang out, "What do we do?"

Lucy peered around the corner, taking a moment to survey the room. The first thing her eyes landed on were the hostages. On the far side of the room, two dozen people had been pushed into a corner. The dark guild paid them no mind, clearly knowing none of them would do anything to them.

Next, were the bodies. Near the second entrance to the station, the dead bodies of Ruin knights were piled together. They had been slaughtered like pigs upon entrance, that much was clear as day. Her fingers clenched around the brick, but she didn't do anything yet.

Members of Eisenwald lounged around the room, some of them having splatters of blood across their shirts or holding weapons dripping with blood. Seeing nothing of importance, Lucy's eyes drifted back to the hostages, absently looking for a girl resembling Hana. None of them did, and the only person who stood out was a small girl with bright silver-blue hair and doe-brown eyes.

In the back of her mind, she was vaguely aware of Natsu and Gray's whisper fight, and Erza peering over her shoulder.

The people started to converse, but Lucy was too focused on the frightened little girl to pay them any mind.

"Lucy," Erza said, trying to get her attention. The blonde hummed to show that she was listening. "I recognize that man; the one with blood on his shirt and face."

She scanned the crowd, looking for who her companion was talking about. Her eyes looked onto him. He leaning against a bench, talking to a chubby man with beady eyes. "Wait, him? The man from the train?"

Erza shifted behind her, and Lucy ducked behind the corner when someone glanced their way. "Well, yes, but he was also one of the men in the tavern." Erza held a hand to her chin in thought. "If I remember correctly, he was in possession of the cursed flute."

"If he had it before, I'm pretty sure he doesn't have it now. You see the man sitting on the light pole?" Lucy said. Erza leaned over her to glance around.

"Yes, I see him." The redhead responded curtly.

"I think he's Erigor, the leader of Eisenwald. From what I know, he's not the type of person let one of his minions hold on to something important to him. We're going to attack him first." The blonde declared. Her eyes slid over to Gray as Erza leaned away from her.

"Gray," She hissed, "Make a shield around the hostages. I'll have Taurus help you get them out of here, okay?" The ice-mage gave one last glare at Natsu before charging into the room. Lucy, Erza, and Natsu followed.

"Ice Make: Shield!" The ice encased the frightened hostages, and most of the Eisenwald mages seemed unfazed by their arrival. Lucy summoned Taurus right of the bat, and wasted no time in pulling out a new key.

The men charged at them, and Natsu fired off a fiery roar, taking out a fourth a the small army and giving them second and third degree burns. At the same time, Erza equipped an armor. A dress made purely of metal donned her form, and swords surrounded her. The redhead charged down the middle, ruthless in her assault.

Smirking, Lucy channeled magic into her key. It split in half, and she was left a golden short-sword in each hand. She flew into the remaining third of the Eisenwald members, sending flying kicks and nonlethal sword slices in all directions.

In less than seventy seconds, only seven members of Eisenwald were left standing, the rest of them on the floor, groaning in pain. Erza changed back to her regular skirt and breastplate, but held a battleaxe in her hands. She turned a scalding glare on the man sitting on the light pole a smug smirk on his face despite the fact the his guild had been taken down by only four mages.

"Erigor!" Erza growled, "Just what, exactly, are your plan's with the Lullaby flute?"

* * *

 **Finished on 12/26/16.**

 **Sorry for the lack of updats! I've been waiting to see how the manga finishes up, but in the process deleted chapters six and seven. And don't worry about the OC, she's only going to be here for this ark. After this I plan to reinstate my regular schedule so stay tuned!**


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